1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutter apparatus for cutting a sheet member and a printer using the cutter apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A POS register installed at an account counter in a retail shop includes a print unit which is used to issue a receipt for each payment when the payment is completed. A receipt sheet is generally stored as a roll of sheet, and as a mechanism for separating a receipt from the roll of sheet, there have been known a) a mechanism of a tear-bar system in which an operator tears a receipt from the sheet, and b) a mechanism of an automatic cutting system in which a receipt is electrically cut off from the sheet after printing is completed.
When a customer does not request a receipt, in the tear-bar system, receipts issued previously and currently are continuous with each other in a single receipt manner, and therefore, it is easy to deal with unnecessary receipts afterwards. However, in the automatic cutting system, since a receipt is automatically torn or cut each time payment is made, it is very complicated to keep and handle unnecessary receipts.
In view of the above, there has been proposed a mechanism of a partial cutting system which does not entirely cut receipts but cuts receipts in such a manner that receipts are connected with one another only in the parts thereof. In this partial cutting system, a receipt can be cut easily when it is handed to a customer and the cutting surface thereof is clean, and when a receipt is not necessary, it is connected to the remaining receipts in a sheet, which makes it easy to deal with the unnecessary receipts later.
Of partially cut portions in this manner, a cut portion having a fine cutting pitch is also referred to as perforations; and such perforations are used in many fields including not only a receipt but also a flier, an inserted bill in a magazine, a questionnaire, and toilet paper.
As the related prior art, there have been known, for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei 10-29193, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei 6-238596, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho 62-70170, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho 61-3158, and Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. Sho 62-144191.
In Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei 10-29193, there has been proposed a circle cutter in which a disk-shaped movable cutting edge is attached to a timing belt disposed between two pulleys and the movable cutting edge is reciprocatingly moved to cut a long sheet. However, since the circle cutter is of a full-cutting system that cuts all sections of the sheet, it cannot still solve the above-mentioned problems.
Also, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei 6-238596, there has been proposed a cutting apparatus structured such that a rotary cutter with notches formed therein is moved in a reciprocating manner to cut a roll of recording paper in which perforations are to be formed. However, this cutting apparatus is directed to a cutter which is designed specially for forming perforations, and when a user wishes to change this apparatus to a full-cutting system, it is indispensable to replace the rotary cutter with a cutter designed exclusively for full cutting. Further, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho 62-70170 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho 61-3158 similarly disclose a cutter which is designed specially for cutting perforations.
Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. Sho 62-144191 discloses a cutting apparatus in which a freely rotatable circular cutter is moved linearly along a groove formed in a feed shaft, and perforations can be formed by changing the cutter to a serrated circular cutter.